17 June 2014

Change that you can believe. The United States Senate made judicial history today by confirming Darrin P. Gayles to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and Staci Michelle Yandle to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. This marks the first time "the Senate has confirmed two openly gay judges on the same day," reports the White House.

Both of the judges are also Black. Judge Gayles becomes the first openly Black openly gay man to serve on the federal judiciary.

Judge Yandle was confirmed by a party-line 52-44 vote. She was nominated in January and becomes the first Black judge "ever on that court and the first openly gay judge in the 7th Circuit, which covers Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin," noted Politico.

Judge Yandle has served as a solo practitioner focusing on civil litigation in southern Illinois since 2007, according to a biography provided by the White House. The judge follows the path of the distinguished Judge Deborah Batts, the groundbreaking Black lesbian jurist whom President Bill Clinton nominated to the Southern District of New York in 1994. Batts became the first ever openly LGBT federal judge.

Judge Gayles was confirmed unanimously by a 98-0 vote. "From 2004 to 2011, he served as a County Judge in Miami-Dade County," according to his bio. "Since 2011, he has served as a Circuit Court Judge."

National Black Justice Coalition CEO Sharon Lettman-Hicks applauded the historic confirmations."I am thrilled that the Senate has confirmed Attorney Yandle and Judge Gayles to the federal bench. NBJC celebrates both confirmations that will inspire so many in the Black and LGBT communities," said Lettman-Hicks. "In addition, we celebrate the vast life experiences that they will take with them to the federal bench as they work to render impartial decisions. It's a significant sign of progress in our nation when two individuals are judged solely on their merits when being considered for these important lifetime appointments."

This is not the first time that Obama has nominated a Black openly gay man to the federal judiciary. In November 2012, Obama nominated William Thomas to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio initially recommended Thomas but later stalled the nomination. Thomas' nomination was not resubmitted this year.

Obama has nominated more Black, Latino and LGBT judges than any previous president, according to the White House. History was made when the Senate confirmed U. S. District Court Judge Pamela Chen to become the first openly gay, Asian-American judge on the federal bench in 2013. Chen serves on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Obama also nominated U. S. District Court Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro as the first out Latina on the federal bench in 2012. Quiñones was confirmed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2013.

25 September 2013

This is brilliant. Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney and award-winning choreographer Kyle Abraham are among the 24 winners of 2013 MacArthur Fellows. These so-called “genius” grants from the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation come with a no-strings-attached stipend of $625,000 paid over five years.

The 32-year-old McCraney has sometimes been described as the "heir" to August Wilson's legacy. McCraney is a Miami native and graduated from Yale '07 MFA. The wunderkind dramatist became one of the first winners
of Yale University's new Windham Campbell Prize earlier. That award has
a $150,000 cash tag and has been described as "one of the largest
literary prizes in the world."

McCraney is best known for his acclaimed trilogyThe Brother/Sister Plays. Other works include Wig Out!, American TradeandChoir Boy. The latter made its London debut
in September 2012 and explores the competing roles of religion, Black
cultural identity and sexual repression at a fictional African-American
prep school. McCraney—who is openly gay—has been a member of the acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater Company ensemble since 2010.

The 36-year-old Kyle Abraham has been awarded a Bessie Award and a Princess Grace Award for choreography. Abraham established his company Abraham.In.Motion in 2006 after having worked with Bill T. Jones, the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and many others.

The Pittsburgh native has created a number of critically-acclaimed recent works including The Radio Show, Op. 1, Live! The Realest MC, and Pavement. A Ramp to Paradise. Live! The Realest MCexplores "what it means to be Black and gay in the context of hip hop culture" and has been performed across the country. Pavement. A Ramp to Paradise describes the history of the iconic Black gay dance club the Paradise Garage.

Bravo and many congratulations to all of the winners. Watch Kyle Abraham and Tarell Alvin McCraney's introductory videos for the MacArthur Foundation AFTER THE JUMP ...

President Barack Obama nominated Judge William L. Thomas to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in mid-November. Thomas has served as a Miami-Dade County Circuit Court judge since 2005.

Rubio continues to hold up the Thomas nomination even though he and [Democratic Sen. Bill] Nelson recommended Thomas for the seat following approval from Florida’s Federal Judicial Nominating Commission, which makes recommendations to the state’s senators.

Rubio’s office didn’t respond to repeated requests from the Blade over the past two weeks to comment on why he continues to hold up the Thomas nomination. According to a report last week in the Tampa Bay Times, Rubio has concerns about Thomas’s involvement in a controversial case in which a man was given a sentence of just 364 days in jail for the hit-and-run death of a cyclist.

A judge is seeking to allay these concerns about Thomas in a letter to Rubio that was obtained by the Blade. In the July 19 missive, Nushin Sayfie, administrative judge for the criminal division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Florida, says the sentence Thomas gave in the case was within his guideline range. The name of the case, the victim and the defendant aren’t found in the letter.

Sayfie maintains that unlike what the media reported, the defendant wasn’t charged in the death of the victim, but "charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death."

Judge
Thomas became President Obama's third nomination of an openly gay or
lesbian federal jurist. Thomas would also become the second nation's
second Black openly gay or lesbian federal judge, reports BuzzFeed's Chris Geidner.

"Thomas
is the first out LGBT black judge to be nominated by Obama, but, if
approved by the Senate, he would be the second out LGBT black judge. The
first, Judge Deborah Batts, also was the first out LGBT federal judge.
She was nominated by President Clinton and sat on the Southern District
of New York bench. She took 'senior status,' a near retirement, earlier
this year."

Only two weeks after the Thomas nomination on November 12, the Obama Administration made another historic nomination. Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro, who is openly lesbian, was nominated to serve on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Quiñones' nomination was confirmed on June 13, 2013. She received her commission on June 19, 2013.

Reportedly, all of the Obama Administration's judicial nominees that were "renominated at the start of the 113th Congress have received confirmation" ... except for Judge William L. Thomas.

The French sailor meets Jean-Paul Gaultier-inspired ensemble may been just the trick to help the Heat remain in the Finals. "Wade totaled 32 points to lead the Heat to a 109-93 Game 4 victory over the Spurs Thursday night," reports Yahoo! Sports. "The victory squares the series at 2-2 and assures the Finals will return to Miami for a sixth game, if not also a seventh."

Down Lo [is] set in Miami’s South Beach. [T]he edgy ensemble drama explores the intersection of three worlds — the party town’s popular music scene, sports and fashion circles. It deals with fame and secrets, with the stories told from multiple points of view. One of them will be that of a gay rapper living on the down low as homosexuality is still not readily accepted in the hip-hop community.

This could be a winner. The nine-times Grammy Award-winning Legend is ridiculously talented, super stylish and also a fierce progressive and vocal LGBT ally. Krantz was the executive producer of 24 during its height in the early 2000s. Most people would go the cheap and messy route—but I don't see it happening with this team.

Calling it "one of the largest literary prizes in the world," the university this morning announced nine writers who will receive $150,000 each "for outstanding achievement in fiction, nonfiction and drama." The prize, totaling $1.35 million this year, was established in 2011 and is named for the late author Donald Windham and his partner, Sandy M. Campbell. This year's winners will receive their prizes at Yale in September, in conjunction with a literary festival.

The 33-year-old McCraney, who is gay, has sometimes been described as the "heir" to August Wilson's legacy. McCraney is a Miami native and graduated from Yale '07 MFA. The wunderkind dramatist has had a very busy year, reports Miami's New Times.

The Miami native playwright kicked off 2013 with his own punched-up, truncated version of Hamlet, which opened at GableStage in January to favorable reviews (including ours). Next, he's working with London's Royal Shakespeare Company and the New York Public Theatre to produce another major production at GableStage in 2014.

McCraney's is best known for his acclaimed trilogyThe Brother/Sister Plays. Other works include Wig Out!, American TradeandChoir Boy. The latter made its London debut in September 2012 and explores the competing roles of religion, Black cultural identity and sexual repression at a fictional African-American prep school.

03 December 2012

New model oh-so-hotness Virguens Vergin is tall, dark, flawless and his muscles are "bulging" in all the right places. The 22-year-old Virguens is a native of Haiti and has lived in the United States since he was 7-years-old.